This was another example of a picture that took me all day to get and was a surprise when I realized that's the photo I was trying to get all along.

When I walked out of the building I work in and looked towards the bay I was startled by an even bigger cruise ship than the one shown below and docked slightly closer. It seemed to be bearing down on me from a quarter mile away. I tried all day to get a picture illustrating the effect. I took pictures just out side the building, I got shots along the dock close to the boat, I even took some shots outside our second floor conference room with the top of the ship lurking over the tops of the palm trees. When I left work at 5pm, the sun had started to set. As I walked towards the bay, taking photos as I went, the ship's horn gave off a great loud, low, long blast that is still echoing among the buildings. And then the ship started to back away from the dock.

At glacial, stately speeds the ship backs up and turns, then heads forward towards the mouth of the bay. I'm taking pictures the whole way, even some video, and I'm not happy with what I'm getting. Meanwhile the sun is going down fast. Finally, I see that a small sailboat is going to cross the bay behind the cruise ship and when they line up will be my picture.

I know that most will say that the camera needed to be on a tripod to avoid the shaky lines caused by my inability to hold the camera perfectly still while the shutter is open for a long time in the low light. Perhaps, but I still like the shot.